Computers and Ethics in the Workplace
Executive Summary This paper discusses issues with ethics that have derived in the workplace as a result of the use of business computers. The definition of computer ethics is simple; they are a set of moral principles that intend to help with the regulation of the use of computers. Some common problems with computer ethics consist of privacy concerns, intellectual property rights, and the way computers have an effect on people. In other words, computer ethics refers to the ways people take ethical traditions and test, stretch, apply, negotiate and break in the realm of computer technology. As technology continues to evolve, there are a great deal of ethical issues and principles of behavior
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Corporations, management and employees have to be able to keep up with the changing times in order to be competitive in their profession. The Internet creates an interesting predicament, with many employees utilizing it at work on a daily. The main concern is whether communication and information by way of the Internet should be monitored; this concerns both business and personal communications at work. This issue of employees and the Internet at work is a concern of many employers and managers, because in most cases it affects productivity. These days some employees have taken the use of Internet at work to an even more unethical level of viewing explicit content on work computers and this raises even more red flags for work computers to be monitored and have restrictions. The United States Congress created the Communications Decency Act of 1996 to help with regulating pornographic things on the Internet. In 1997, changes were made to the Act and Title V of the Communications Decency Act affected the Internet and online communications. The most notorious portions of this Act were the ones that related to unsuitable content online. The significant part of the Act was initiated in reply to worries that Internet pornography was becoming an issue to society. If the government could find a way to really enforce inappropriate material on the Internet like pornography, would definitely help to decrease
Advances in technology has brought many benefits but also problems. The use of new technology creates moral and ethical problems and conflicting attitudes in society. The complexity of the issues and the pace with which technology changes mean that legislators have difficulty making laws that can keep in control of these changes.
Advances in technology has brought many benefits but also problems. The use of new technology creates moral and ethical problems and conflicting attitudes in society. The complexity of the issues and the pace with which technology changes mean that legislators have difficulty making laws that can keep in control of these changes.
The computer is a great invention that is used in every field including corporate offices and private homes. Computers have made our day to day tasks easier to do and made a great impact in our society that is still evolving and changing each day. Workers are able to do their jobs more efficiently and allow interconnectivity between computer users all around the world through the Internet.
When that technology is used to view, collect or disseminate inappropriate content, again employers have cause for concern. Use of workplace computers to access and distribute pornography, for example, frequently results in discipline and workplace harassment complaints. In some cases it can even result in serious criminal investigations.
With the development of society, people's values are changing quite a lot. People tend to focus more time and energy on pursuing economic benefits and material satisfaction while ignoring the importance of morality. Here, my point is that no matter what technology we develop, no matter how much contribution and improvement this technology will bring to people. When we develop this technology, we have to obey ethical and moral rules. For instance, in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Rebecca Skloot recounts that doctors and scientists
Everyday individuals are faced with issues associated with ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas involve an individual’s behavior toward a moral standard, which may have been established from previous generations and passed along. In upholding the standards taught individual may be forced to take a particular action involving a decision when a behavior is considered non-ethical is when an ethical dilemma occurs. It can become difficult at times in making the correct decisions or solutions to the situation, which is why a code of ethics is established in the workplace. The code of ethics in the
History has shown that ethical issues tend to follow advances in technology. This new relationship between humans and
The advances made in information technologies are causing an increasing number of ethical problems. The power used to processing computers doubles about every two years. Organizations are more dependent than ever before on their information systems. The Ethical problems arising from the appropriate use of customer information, personal privacy, and the protection of intellectual property have lead to increased laws to regulate the way data is collected. There are also privacy issues involved collecting, storing, and disseminating information about individuals.
First, we should call attention to “a 2007 survey conducted by the American Management Association which suggests that 66 percent of companies monitor employees’ Internet connections, 45 percent of employers track employees’ keystrokes and time spent at the keyboard and 43 percent of companies monitor employees’ e-mail.” (Law 360). Since then the numbers have grown, as have the methods of electronic monitoring. Today’s world includes video surveillance, recording devices for telephone conversations, pen registering apps that document phone numbers, global
Many organizations experience employee abuse of the internet. This abuse of the internet can be defined as any use of the internet for personal purposes during work hours. This behavior can include accessing personal social media sites, blogging sites, news sites, shopping and accessing inappropriate content such as pornographic sites. Employees need to be aware that there are consequences for this type of abuse. In order for organizations to protect their business interests, policies should be created and enforced in order to protect the business and other employees from any violations or repercussions.
Cyberethics consists of the moral, legal and social issues that involve technology used over the internet. It assesses the social policies and laws that we formulate with response to issues created by the development and use of cyber technology. The code of ethics for the cyber technology world is mainly related to issues such as:
The first questions to ask when it comes to e-mail and websites at work is, “Am I being watched?” The answer is most likely yes. Employers have begun to watch their employee’s activities with greater detail over the years. In 2001, CNN.com posted an article titled, Is your PC watching you? Find out!, which looked into this further. In this article “A study by the Privacy Foundation claims employers are monitoring the Internet and e-mail use of 14 million employees. (Articles.CNN, 2001)” While it can be assumed that number has grown over the last decade, it can also be said with certainty that measures have been put in place to ensure information transmitted via business internet connections have increased. The U.S. government, for example, has set up content filters and points of encryption to safeguard against system penetrations and intrusions. Although these measures are not practical for home use, limiting the information you supply to through the internet will help. One topic of contention that does not seem to have a resolution, however, is the subject of electronic medical records.
In the early years of computers and computerized technology, computer engineers had to believe that their contribution to the development of computer technology would produce positive impacts on the people that would use it. During the infancy of computer technology, ethical issues concerning computer technology were almost nonexistent because computers back then were not as multifaceted as they are today. However, ethical issues relating to computer technology and cyber technology is undeniable in today’s society. Computer technology plays a crucial role in all aspects of our daily lives. Different forms of computer technology provide unique functionalities that allow people to perform daily activities effectively and efficiently. In
IT Professional is a publication (Keith W. Miller 2009), it is such like book publication, it also has copyright problem, plagiarism problem, and many problems like book publication, so, to be the Professionals, they must act like the book authors to solve these problems. In aspects of IT, the side of ethical problems are including advice on how professionals can recognize, analyze, and make judgments on challenging questions about right, wrong, and computing. Computers have become essential tools of modern humans, regardless life, entertainment, education, work, and business are related with computer. Computer impact on human society very much. So knowing the Information Technology Ethics is very important to everyone, because it is useful to everyone who lives in this
The growing issues with Internet usage in the workplace has become a major concern for employers. Employers are discovering that employees are spending hours of wasted time surfing the Internet and sending inappropriate emails. Employers classify this type of behavior as, “Internet abuse,” and breaking company’s policies. While employees see this type of behavior harmless, employers see this as potential risks to their organization. Previous researched study show employees spend hours surfing the Internet and sending non-work related emails to co-workers, family, and friends. With millions of employees having access to their employer’s Internet, companies are seeing an increase in Internet usage causing potential legal